


Take off

by GaylartMess



Category: Smile For Me (Video Game)
Genre: Backstory, Break Up, Childhood, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Neglect, Original Character Death(s), Other, Past Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:29:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23222527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GaylartMess/pseuds/GaylartMess
Summary: A series of events leading up to Danni signing up at the Habitat
Relationships: Danni ameli/Juliet Divina, original female character/original enby character
Kudos: 7





	Take off

They remember how heavy the VHS tape had felt in their tiny hands, a disproportionate weight compared to the size of it. Danni figured it was heavy with memory, their eyes tracing over the curved writing scribbled onto the sticker in the middle of the black rectangle:

_Camila Ameli_

They’d figured it would grow lighter. That they’d be able to handle the many tapes sealed up in that old cardboard box wrapped up in masking tape that had been constantly opened up again and again.  
Their fingernails still hurt from what felt like hours of prying at the masking tape.  
Danni couldn’t understand why Papa had to do that every time.

The tapes would be haphazardly thrown back in and the whole thing would be sealed up again, shoved back into the furthest corner over the storage cupboard. Stuff would be piled onto it as though the extra weight was to keep something trapped in the box.  
It reminded Danni of how they lined their toy trains and planes in front of their wardrobe to protect them from the monsters they were sure dwelled in there. A small ritual that made them feel a little safer at night.

Especially since Papa hardly ever came in to kiss them goodnight, or even say anything before going to bed himself.

They slot the tape in, and it clicks and clacks as it slides into the player. They shuffle back until their back hits the sofa, fumbling with the remote to make sure the sound is down, as they had done before putting the tape in.  
The player whirrs, and they sneak a glance to the entrance of the living room.

No matter what, Mama’s face on the screen always takes their attention. The world would crumble around them as they gently moved some of the various tapes aside, crawling forward until they were closer to the screen.  
She was holding them as a tiny, tiny baby in this one. They had tried to see if they could remember that moment, if they could remember what it was like to be held by her, what she sounded like when she was there, cooing to her.

As much as they tried and wished and thought, nothing came to them.

At least they could hear her through the tapes.

* * *

“-Did Mama like clouds, then?” Danni shifted, head still lolling off Aniece bed as they fiddled with the toy boat in their hands.

Aniece moved around the pink table, setting down a plastic white teapot, the painted hearts beginning to chip and peel away.  
“Mama liked the sky.” Aniece responded. “She showed me how clouds can mean different things because of how they looked. She used to do it on TV because she was so good.”

“No way!” Danni gasped. Mama had been famous? Only famous people were on TV, surely.

"Yeah." Aniece nods, attention still honed on the small tea setup, her sunny yellow dress twirls around her ankles every time she turns. “Come on, your hot chocolate will get cold.”

Danni slips off the bed, their head hitting the floor and sending themselves tumbling back. With a small stumble they push to their feet, settling into the tiny stool by the table, watching wide eyed as Aniece tipped the teapot carefully against Danni’s plastic teacup. They wait for Aniece to pour drinks for the two other doll guests at the table, before filling her own drink. She sits down across from them, and Danni’s leg bounces excitedly, their pink tutu fluttering with the movement.

Aniece takes a neat sip from her cup, a pinkie lifted.  
Danni copies, also lifting their pinkie as they stare into the empty cup.

* * *

No matter how much they look, Mama’s hair is never long. Not in any videos or pictures.

“Was it always short?” They ask papa. He lifts his head up, gaze distant.

“Hm?”

“Mama’s hair. Was it always short? Did it never grow?”

They don’t miss the flinch, the way his frown seems to grow. He stares back at the morning paper in front of him, his cheek seeming to sink further against his calloused palm.  
Danni thinks he’s ignoring them again until he speaks.

“It was long when we were younger.” He mutters. Danni gleams, and they have to restrain themselves from slapping the table excitedly. Papa got annoyed the last time they did that.

“How long? Was she my age-?”

He gets up abruptly. He mutters about work, and leaves the kitchen.

Danni sinks down into their chair, and pokes their fork against the cold pancakes Aniece made earlier.  
Their other hand absentmindedly thumbs through their dark teal curls.

* * *

At some point they’d begun emulating the way she spoke to Danni through the tapes.  
They ignored the way Aniece would huff and Papa seemed to avoid them more.  
Besides, the ‘Texan drawl’, as one of their teachers had called it, was fun. It was fun to say things that way.  
  
It made Danni’s heart flutter, like Mama was reaching out and squishing their cheeks, giving them kisses to say she was proud.   
  
Aniece would sometimes mutter in Spanish, the same way Papa did, and tell them to knock it off. Apparently the other kids at their school kept coming up to her to ask why her sibling 'spoke different' and if they were 'really related'. Aniece had told her to stop it, to which Danni would pout and push the accent harder. It must be because they weren't good at it yet, that must be why people found it weird. Well, the more they practice, the better they'd get! Their teachers always said that about art and history.  
  
They'd sound like Mama, they were determined to. Maybe Papa would talk to them again if they sounded like her?

Some day, they’d cut their hair too, when they were allowed to use scissors. Cut it short and curly and pretty, just like Mama’s. They wondered if they were going to reach Mama’s towering height, or Papa’s short stature.

They hoped it would be Mama’s. Being able to reach things without climbing stuff looked much better.

* * *

Danni remembers the relief of finally unpacking their things into a room. One they know they’ll stay in this time. Aniece had said it with such confidence, a rare smile on her face.

They’d been joined at the hip since Aniece had become fed up of Papa and moved away. Danni had followed her, uncertain of what they’d even do if they weren't with their sister.  
Danni sets things onto the higher shelves since Aniece can’t reach, and the radio thrums in the background as they quietly stock their kitchen in the small two bedroom apartment.

Aniece holds a waitress job and works consistently.

Danni’s attention keeps getting pulled between jobs as they try to figure out what’s going to fulfil them. They volunteer on top of it too, fluttering between retail and delivery and even and even an office job.  
But they’re on cloud nine the moment they walk into the museum. They go in to volunteer, and have to stop in their tracks, instantly hit with something that burrows into their chest and takes root. It spreads during a tour, when they float through the planes and automobile section, able to list off every model name in their head.  
It’s exhilarating. It’s everything they want!

Around this time, Juliet strolls into their life.

She’s a lovely woman, Danni thinks, with a pretty laugh and sharp sense of humour. Danni works as a barista for a few months, and Juliet is a regular.  
Danni is good with regulars, good at connecting faces to orders. So when Danni guesses Juliet’s order along with a teasing, -”Same as usual?”, Juliet smirks, cocking a brow at her.

“Am I that predictable?”

Danni shrugs, “It’s what you always order, isn’t it?”

“Touché.”

They find themselves excited when she walks through the door every morning. They’re a little surprised when she briefly drops by at lunch too.

“I’m only a block away. You make the day a little brighter.” She blushes, gaze wandering.

Danni’s grin was radiant, cheeks rogue as they turned over the napkin in their hands, marked with a number and a lipstick kiss.

* * *

It felt as though it all fell apart too quickly, too coincidentally.

Juliet began to complain about Danni’s clinging nature to their mutual peers. Danni had tried so hard to make a good impression and befriend as many of her friends as possible, but no matter what they did it always seemed they were being held at a distance. By both them and Juliet, who quickly began to hiss at Danni to not embarrass her when Danni excitedly talked about planes and flapped their hands from the energy that came from the sheer joy of talking about it.

She kept pushing Danni to wear clothes she deemed more normal.  
“You’re not even a pilot, love.” She’d sighed, fastening a tie around Danni’s neck. Tight enough Danni whined a little. “You’re so lucky I'm around to give you tips.” She giggled. Danni smiled, but flinched when the tie dug into their neck.

She’d get upset when Danni mentioned cutting their hair.

“I can always grow it back.” Danni shrugged off. “Why is it so important?”

“I like it long.” Juliet whined, walking up to Danni and pulling a long strand down over their shoulder. “I like styling it for you.”

“But it really hurts my head after a while.”

Juliet rolls her eyes. “It’s just what you have to do to look nice.”

“But I don’t care about that.”

“Well, I do. Danni, you could ruin job opportunities for me if you keep acting out like this!”

Danni didn’t really believe that. Of all the bars and clubs Juliet went to sing at, they’d not been invited after the time they brought her flowers to congratulate her. Apparently someone offering her a job was upset she wasn’t single and turned her away.  
Juliet had said this to them, but they weren't even sure if that was the case. But she’d get upset if they tried to find the loopholes in her words.

They were unhappy, and very lonely, but they'd be even lonelier if they ended the relationship, surely. It’s why they stayed so long.

And Danni doesn’t like remembering the arguments that led to Danni getting their own apartment.  
Their own, lonely apartment.

Aniece was only a phone call away, sure, but it wasn’t the same as physically having someone there. Not as they lay curled up on the sofa, silently sobbing over the bowl of pasta they had in their lap as the tv light flickered.

* * *

They remember how heavy the VHS tape felt in their hands as a kid, heavily weighing in their palms and chest in a way they hadn’t been taught to understand.

It had been one of the very first things they’d moved with them when they’d moved out of Dad’s house with their sister, and then when they’d moved out of Aniece’s apartment.

They gingerly tucked it back into the box, and glanced toward the computer switched on, the web page taking up the screen talked about finding smiles and ‘habbiness’.

It fell into place, really.

They hadn’t left their apartment unless necessary, they’d hardly spoken to Aniece, and the half the conversations were drawn out with an uncomfortable silence. They hardly had anyone they’d even consider getting involved with their feelings. Not after how it had been too much for Aniece and Juliet.

Danni cards their hands through their now short hair.  
They didn’t regret cutting it. It looked so similar to Mama’s.  
But it wasn’t the kick start of joy they were hoping for. They thought a change so drastic would push them back into gear, and that they’d be up and about again and go apply for that museum job and-

Nothing. They still felt so… Alone.  
What did it matter if no one was around to share that joy with.

They walked back over to their computer, muttering under their breath as they read the contact.

Maybe they could see if this Dr. Habit fella could help them out.


End file.
